All-optical control on a graphene-on-silicon waveguide modulator.

The hallmark of silicon photonics is in its low loss at the telecommunications wavelength, economic advantages and compatibility with CMOS design and fabrication processes. These advantages are however impeded by its relatively low Kerr coefficient that constrains the power and size scaling of nonlinear all-optical silicon photonic devices. Graphene, with its unprecedented high Kerr coefficient and uniquely thin-film structure, makes a good nonlinear material to be easily integrated onto all-optical silicon photonic waveguide devices. We study the design of all-optical graphene-on-silicon (GOS) waveguide modulators, and find the optimized performance of MW cm-2 in optical pump intensities and sub-mm device lengths. The improvements brought by the integration of graphene onto silicon photonic waveguides could bring us a step closer to realising compact all-optical control on a single chip.